Fraud scheme targets elderly residents

Greeley police issue warning to residents of Northern Colorado

May 9, 2013

Written by

Beacon news services

The Greeley Police Department has issued an alert to Northern Colorado residents after two elderly women were targeted in a fraud scheme.

According to a Greeley Police Department news release, the fraudsters contacted their first victim, a Fort Collins woman, in March claiming to be from her bank’s internal security division. The same scheme was executed the next day on another woman in Greeley.

The thieves contact their victims by phone, saying they are investigating the tellers at the victim’s bank for theft. They knew enough account information to make both of the victims think the calls were legitimate, according to the release.

The caller then asks for the victim’s help in the “investigation” by withdrawing money from their accounts. They are then instructed to meet the caller’s “associate” in a parking lot to give them the cash. Both victims were later called by the “investigator” and thanked for their help, before being told to meet at the bank the next day to retrieve their money.

When the victims arrived at their banks, they learned there was never an investigation.

Losses have amounted to more than $11,000 between the two known victims so far.

Police urge anyone who receives a phone call about participating in an investigation of their bank to contact a trusted family member or the police department.